The Insider
by Pygmypigwidgeon
Summary: Draco knows all about the DA and his secrecy comes at a high price. Hermione must defeat him in a wizard's duel. In a battle of pride, purity and power, what will they learn about each other? What forbidden secrets will be revealed? Dramione. 5th year
1. Chapter 1

Draco has all he needs to expose the DA to Umbridge. A deal is made: Draco would keep his findings to himself if a DA member can beat him in a Wizard's Duel. Hermione steps up. Its Pureblood vs Muggleborn, a battle of pride, purity and power. What will they learn about each other? What secrets will be revealed? ~ Dramoine ~ 5th year~ 

**This is my first HP fanfic, so please be nice! Don't forget to read and review :) Tell me whether I should continue on or just abandon the idea. This is going to be a Dramoine, but it starts out very canon. **

**Please note: This takes place during fifth year, when Harry, Ron and Hermione created Dumbledore's Army and Umbridge took over the school.**

"_Don't go easy on him Hermione, hit him with all you've got," Ron whispered conspiratorially, patting Hermione lightly on her back. "Oh, and be careful, don't let him get you with any dark stuff, that guy's dangerous," he added on a smaller note, concern momentarily flashing in his eyes, but quickly replaced by excitement._

"_Honestly Ron, sometimes you really do sound like you mother," Hermione snapped. She was fully capable of taking care of herself when facing a git like Draco Malfoy, after this, he would not dare to call her a mudbl-, someone of lower status again. _

LINE BREAK

_2 weeks before…. _

Malfoy had stolen Longbottom's coin pouch in one of his silly pranks and spotted a small piece of parchment wrapped around one particular galleon. The galleon didn't look like anything special but the parchment wrote otherwise.

**DATE + TIME + ROOM OF REQUIREMENT**

What did that mean? The Room of Requirement? Sometime about its name clicked in his head. He vaguely remembered Crabbe boasting about how his dad had found a room in Hogwarts where the Slytherins hosted legendary parties. The Room of Requirement! Apparently Longbottom was not the goody Gryffindor he was supposed to be. Were there Slytherin parties in this room? Why wasn't he invited? Outraged, he pictured a bunch of Slytherin seven years having their time of their lives partying with… with Longbottom. Then again, that didn't make any sense, he was after all the most popular fifth year Slytherin, why would Longbottom be invited when he wasn't? Something was definitely not right. The only way to understand what exactly was conspiring was… The Room of Requirement.

LINE BREAK

Hermione was on her way to the library to do some reading before the next DA session started. She was extremely unhappy as Neville had just informed her that he had lost his DA galleon and was going to need a new one. Didn't he know how hard it took to cast protean charms? Not to mention transfiguring an authentic-looking galleon…

The first thing she noticed when she stepped into the library was a certain silver-haired Slytherin, slumped at a desk, deeply engrossed in whatever he was reading. That was strange, what was Malfoy doing in the library?

Setting her books down at a nearby table, she told herself to ignore Malfoy's uncharacteristic new hobby, but soon found herself more and more curious, occasionally glancing at Malfoy discreetly. Decidedly, she walked to the bookshelf behind him and pretended to browse through the books. From the corner of her eye, she observed the strange proceedings.

Malfoy was fingering a shiny gold galleon in his right hand, occasionally glancing down to scrutinize it. Figures, Hermione thought, Malfoy was probably just reading _A Pureblood's Guide to Squandering the Family fortune_ or something along those lines. Satisfied with her findings, she made her way back to her table. However, taking a last glance at Malfoy, she suddenly realized something, Draco Malfoy was reading _Hogwarts: A history_! She could recognize that elegant leather binding and those crisp yellow pages anywhere. Suddenly, her curiosity was sparked again. She was almost completely sure that she was the only person in school who actually cared to read that book, and here was Draco Malfoy, git extraordinaire, actually burying his nose in it! She was intrigued, to say the least.

Determined to satisfy her curiosity, she did a double-take and walked back to the same bookshelf. She looked at the name of the chapter, _THE ROOM OF REQUIREMENT_, she mentally read. The Room of Requirement? Now she was sure something was going on, what would Malfoy, Umbridge's lap dog, want to know about the Room of Requirement, headquarters to the DA?

Then something clicked. The galleon! It seemed that Draco Malfoy was hot on the trails of the DA and he was already deadly close. She felt like fainting. How much did he know? If he had already figured out that the galleon was something special and the Room of Requirement was involved, then it wouldn't be long before he came knocking on a DA session. She pictured Umbridge storming in, taking one glance at the incriminating evidence, and at once expelling every single DA student.

She bolted out of the library, dashed up the stairs, and would not stop running until she reached the Room of Requirement, where the soldiers of Dumbledore's Army were having the time of their lives in their supposed safe haven, unaware that they were laughing and cheering right under the Umbridge's nose.

**Love it? Hate it? Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the alerts and reviews! Here's chapter 2 :) **

"He knows," Hermione cried," It's all over! We need to get out of here or Umbridge… that foul woman, she'll…she'll…"

"HERMIONE WILL YOU JUST BLOODY CALM DOWN?" Ron shouted in exasperation. Looking up, Hermione blinked at him, her tears rolling down her cheeks in relentless streams. Harry gave an exasperated sigh; trust Ron to be sensitive to crying girls.

Hermione had barged in on a DA lesson, flustered and frantic. When Harry asked her why, she immediately burst into tears and neither he nor Ron could understand a word she was saying. By now, the whole DA was crowding around them, trying to find out what the commotion was all about.

"Hermione, would you just tell us what's wrong?" Ginny stepped forward and patted Hermione's back gently. Finally, Harry thought, someone who will actually be able to coax something out of Hermione.

"It's Malfoy, I saw him in the library…" Hermione paused, and glanced at Neville, "He had a DA galleon, I'm sure of it. He was reading _Hogwarts: A History_ and he was reading up on the _Room of Requirement…_ Oh, what shall we do? The DA is history!"

"Don't… Don't worry Hermione, I'm sure Harry can think of something," Neville said guiltily, unable to look Hermione in the eye. Suddenly, all eyes were on Harry, and he did not know what on earth to do. The obvious choice would be to run, evacuate every single person immediately before they were found out. But that meant the end of the DA, and that would kill the spirits of every single person. The DA was their freedom, their secret lives, they could not give it up so easily.

Hermione looked imploringly at Harry, she had visibly calmed down and was ready to rationally think about a solution to the problem.

"Well," Harry said, with as much confidence as he could muster, "We aren't going to run, that's for sure."

And with that, Hermione once again burst into tears.

~line break~

"_The Room of Requirement, a secret room within Hogwarts that only appears when someone is in great need of it. It is a myth, and is most likely non-existent. However, there have been students that claim to have witnessed the appearance of such a room near the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy…_ "

Draco closed the book, rubbing his temples in deep thought. _The portrait of Barnabas the Barmy, _now where was that again? He distinctly remembered seeing a portrait of a dancing troll somewhere around Hogwarts. Oh yes, the seventh floor! Triumphantly, he got up from his seat and made his way back to the bookshelf, where he casually slotted the book in.

After an hour of extensive research in the library, he had managed to piece together as much as he could about this mysterious room. One had to walk past the room three times and think about what he needed. Then the door would appear to the desired room. He had just figured out the final piece of the puzzle, the room was somewhere on the seventh floor, near the portrait of a troll.

Draco could finally solve the mystery of the room of requirement. If there were parties held in there, he would finally be a part of it. He had yet to understand how the galleon fit in into everything, but he had a feeling the answer lied in what he was going to do next.

He eagerly made his way to the seventh floor and found a wide expanse of white wall opposite the tapestry of _Barnabas the Barmy_. It was definitely there. Gathering his excitement, he paced the length of the corridor.

_I want to know what Neville Longbottom does in there. _

~Line Break~

Hermione was at her wit's end, the DA was anxiously waiting for her to tell them what to do. Harry had immediately eliminated the option of running, which she could understand completely, but currently, she was afraid that was the only logical thing for the DA to do.

She stood up from her seat on one of the cushions and saw everyone milling around the room in distress. They noticed her, of course, and immediately gathered around her to hear her verdict.

"He-ey everyone," Hermione said nervously, "I know how important being in the DA is to everyone here, so this is really painful for me to say… But I think that we're going to have to stop all DA activities from here on. We just cannot risk it anymore… If we stay, how are we going to know when Umbridge is going to strut in through those very doors?" She pointed towards the doors to the room, her fingers shaking and her face ashen.

_Creak. _

Now every single head in the room turned to those doors, which at that very moment, were being pushed open. The whole room went still.

Emerging through the doors, was one Draco Malfoy.

~Line break~

Draco took one step into the strange room and knew immediately there was something big going on, but it was definitely not Slytherin parties. Here were a gathering of sorts, Potter, Granger, the majority of the Weasley clan, Longbottom and a few other Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws he could not name. Every single one of them was staring at him with a deer-in-the-headlights look. No one moved an inch, and no one said a word. He took the opportunity to further survey the room, there were shelves of books, dark detectors, sneakoscopes, secrecy sensors, foe-glass and the like.

Draco's mouth instantly curled into its signature smirk. Potter and his friends were going to be in deep trouble.

"My, my, what have we here? Having a little gathering, are we? Perhaps we should refer back to educational decree number _twenty-four, '_No Student Organisation, Society, Team, Group, or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.'" Draco sneered, leisurely enjoying the petrified looks on each of their faces. "And so it seems that everyone here is going to get expelled. _Pity, _but I'm sure all of you need more time to-"

"SHUT IT MALFOY!" Hermione yelled shrilly, no longer able to control her emotions, "You're just happy that now you have a _chance_ to be the best in our year, so why don't you go and march all the way down to Umbridge's office and be a despicable little tattletale?"

Everyone looked at Hermione in awe, she was on the verge of expulsion but could still shout her head off.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "The best in the year? Well that's a spot that's been mine long before I've had to get rid of a filthy little mudblood like you. And for your information, you should be begging for mercy, Granger, after all, every single person here can be ruined on _my _word."

Hermione looked at her friends, he was right, everyone was at Malfoy's mercy, and here she was, shouting and screaming at him like a mad woman.

"I'm… s-sorry. Please..."

**Is it a little too rushed? Or is it going too slowly? I do hope I've kept both Draco and Hermione in character, please tell me if I'm losing the canon. **

**Please review! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone, before you start on chapter 3, I would like to clarify something about the end of the last chapter. I know Hermione is very headstrong, so it may seem out of character for her to give in to Draco, however, she is also very protective of her friends and she does not want them to get hurt, that's why she regretted her actions and apologized to Draco. **

**Okay, with that, I thank you for reading, alerting and reviewing, now onwards to chapter 3! **

"I'm… s-sorry… Please-"

"Please what, Granger?" Draco mocked, "Please don't destroy every single one of you pathetic lot? Every single one of you, mudbloods, bloodtraitors, you don't deserve my sympath-"

"How dare you talk to Hermione like that?" Everyone turned to Ron, who was emerging out of the crowd of DA students, his wand pointed directly at Draco.

Draco did not even flinch.

"Malfoy," Ron spat, bristling with anger, "We don't give a shit about your pureblood crap. You don't want to admit it, but everyone here, is better than you."

Draco face was unreadable for a moment, but then he suddenly smiled, a dangerous, devilish smile. "Well then, how about we make a deal? If you truly are the better wizards, I won't breathe a word about your little _group _to the High Inquisitor. If you aren't, everyone here gets _expelled_."

"And how do you suppose we decide that?" Ron asked in suspicion.

Draco's smiled widened. "Simple… A wizard's duel. One of you against me."

~line break~

There was a long silence in the room. A wizard's duel was to the _death_.

"Oh yes, "Malfoy added lightly, "We can't have a student dead, can we? I suppose loser is the first one to lose consciousness."

There was a collective sigh of relief. Not that anyone thought the school would allow for mysterious deaths among students, it was just that no one dared to underestimate Malfoy's cold-bloodedness when they were all at his mercy.

"So, who's up for it?" Malfoy challenged.

There was another long silence. No one really wanted to face Malfoy, especially with the whole future of the DA weighing on the outcome of that duel.

"I'll go."

Everyone turned to face Harry, who was looking directly at Malfoy in determination. Malfoy considered Harry for a second, and then suddenly shook his head in disapproval.

"No, I don't think so Potter," Malfoy said, "I'm _tired _of you always trying to be the hero. You make me sick." Then he scanned the faces of the DA and settled on the worried face of one Hermione Granger. "Granger," he announced, "I pick Granger. Let's see whether a mudblood can truly be better than me."

Hermione looked up in shock. Immediately Harry and Ron rushed to her side protectively.

"No Malfoy, that wasn't the deal." Harry stated simply, blocking Hermione from Malfoy's line of sight.

"I make the rules, Potter, "Malfoy replied, "Either your mudblood friend fights, or every single person here is expelled."

"I'll do it." Hermione declared bravely just as Harry and Ron were about to object. Everyone in the room either looked at her in awe and respect, or thought she was crazy.

Malfoy smirked and left the room, aware of everyone's eyes on his back.

~line break~

As soon as Malfoy left the room, everyone erupted into a flurry of conversation. Hermione was aware of people glancing at her from the corner of their eye's, whispering their frenzied guesses on the outcome of the duel, making comments about who was the better wizard.

"Oh Hermione, "Ginny said, "That was so brave of you. You're going to win for sure!"

Hermione smiled weakly and mumbled a tiny thanks. In front of her, Harry and Ron were pacing the room, muttering various obscenities and making crude comments about Malfoy. Ginny was practically glowing with admiration while Neville sat at her side guiltily, afraid to say a word about the horrid turn in events.

After a while, Ron came and sat on the floor beside her.

"Don't worry Hermione," Ron muttered unconvincingly, "You can do this. You aren't the smartest in our year for nothing." Hermione smiled at Ron's attempt to be encouraging, he seemed as though he was mainly trying to console himself.

She did not think Malfoy was that good a wizard. It was just that he grew up reading and learning about wizard duels, and probably knew all about them. She _was _the smartest witch in the year, but that was mainly through excelling in written tests. She could beat everyone in history, but could never produce as strong a patronus as Harry.

It was worrying knowing that so many people were dependant on her, and she was starting to feel genuinely scared for herself. Would they hate her if she lost? Did it matter? They would all get sent home anyway.

It was obvious what she had to do: practice, practice, practice. When the day of the duel came, she would definitely have to be ready.

"Everyone," Harry's voice interrupted her line of thoughts, "I know we are all worried. But I think we all know what a great witch Hermione is. I have no doubt that she will win that match for us. But for now, the DA is temporarily disbanded, all meetings are canceled and no more will be scheduled until the duel is over. We just cannot take any more risks."

**I'm personally not very satisfied with this chapter :( I'll try to make the next one better. I know there is not Dramione yet, but rest assured, it'll come soon. I just needed a few chapters to establish the plot properly. **

**Please review! I really love to hear constructive feedback because it really motivates me to write more. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello my dear readers! Sorry for the long wait, I've just been really busy and had to go through a long spell of writer's block. Anyway, here's chapter 4, enjoy!**

In front of Hermione was quite an interesting collection of books. Here she, with the help of some DA members, had gathered _Defence against the Dark Arts _by Arsenius Jigger, _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard, _A History of Dueling _by Quentin Trimble, _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self Protection _by Charlton Pucey and _Dumbledore to Grindlewald: A Study_ by Sehius Flipstrode. She spread them out over the common room table and contemplated which to read first.

Eventually she selected _A History of Dueling _and reached over the table to retrieve it.

Suddenly, a large hand appeared out of the blue and abruptly slammed down on the book cover before she could even touch it. Shocked, she looked up, the very rude owner of the hand happened to be Ron, and beside him, Harry.

"Yes, Ron?" She asked, irritated, "I am _trying _to prepare myself for the duel, so would you please give me back-"

"Hermione," Ron snapped, "This isn't how you go about preparing for a _duel_. Reading is not going to get you anywhere. You need to get some real practice."

Hermione considered Ron's words. He was somewhatat right, of course, sooner or later, she would need to get her wand out and start dueling training for real. She knew that even memorizing all the books would not be enough to win the duel. It was just that studying was the only thing she could be absolutely confident she would succeed in. Deep down, she was afraid that once she got right down to the arena, she would figure out that studying was the only thing she could ever succeed in.

Hermione gave a resigned sigh, conceding that Ron was indeed right. "But, it's already past curfew, where do you suppose we can practice?"

Harry smiled and pulled out something from his robe pocket. Even though Hermione could not see it, she automatically knew what it was.

"I'm a prefect, Harry," Hermione argued, unwilling to risk anymore rule-breaking. "Besides, we can always practice tomorrow. I know that we have some time after-"

"Stop making excuses," Ron accused, "you know we won't get caught as long as we have Harry's cloak. And we need to start training as soon as possible."

Hermione huffed. "Fine, but make sure someone covers for us."

~_line break~_

_I want to practice dueling. I want to practice dueling. I want to practice dueling. _

Hermione thought as she walked briskly past the door, quickly pacing the dark corridor. She did not have the cloak on and hoped that no one would think to check the 7th floor corridor after curfew. Nearby, Harry and Ron were keeping watch at the other end of the corridor, safely hidden under the protection of the invisibility cloak.

After she counted 3 times, she looked up in anticipation at the space in the wall where she knew the door would appear.

It was bare.

Hermione had to stop herself from letting out an audible gasp. Where was the door? Her mind raced with various possibilities, could it be that there was someone else inside? Had Malfoy ratted them out to Umbridge?

She shook her head stubbornly, trying to clear her mind of those pesky thoughts. She took a deep breath and repeated the routine.

Still nothing.

By now, Harry and Ron had noticed something was wrong, considering Hermione had was taking an awfully long time to conjure up the door.

'What's wrong?" She instantly recognized impatient whisper from across the corridor to be Ron's.

"It's the door… It won't open." Hermione stammered.

"What? Are you sure?" That was Harry.

She nodded and felt them walking over to her. Instantly, the worried faces of Harry and Ron appeared in front of her.

"Here," Harry thrust the invisibility cloak into Hermione's hand, "Ron and I will try our luck, you go and keep watch."

Hermione draped the cloak over herself and made her way to the other end of the corridor. Behind her, she hoped that Harry and Ron would quickly open the door so that they could get started. Being stranded in the dark corridor after curfew was not her favorite pastime.

Just as she was about to tell them to hurry up, she heard something. Footsteps. Coming towards her. Her breath hitched in her throat.

She looked behind her, Harry and Ron were still puzzling about how to open the door. In the open corridor with nowhere to hide, they were completely and utterly exposed to whoever might walk down the corridor in a few seconds. It was too risky for them to run back to where she was standing to hide under the protection of the cloak. Looking for her invisible self in the dark and everyone fumbling to get safely under the cloak was going to take too long. There was only 1 option for all of them to stay safe.

_Run. _She hissed. _RUN. _

And so Harry and Ron did. They took to their heels as soon as they figured out Hermione's urgent warning.

As they rounded a corner and were finally out of sight, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She silenced her heavy pants as she waited under the protection of the cloak to find out who their mysterious intruder was. She pressed herself against the corridor wall, motionless, and hoped against hope that she would not get caught.

Finally the person stepped into the corridor. Flashing blonde hair. Silvery piercing eyes. Pale white skin.

Draco Malfoy.

Hermione watched as he walked down the corridor, stopping right outside the spot where the door was supposed to be, except that the wall was blank. This did not seem like a problem for Malfoy, he coolly stood facing the wall and checked his wrist watch, as if expecting something to happen.

_~line break~_

Draco checked his wrist watch. It was almost 11.00. All he had to do was wait for a couple more sec- ah yes, the door appeared in front of him, right on time. Slowly, the door opened, and out stepped the one person he trusted in the whole school.

"You're welcome, Draco."

"Thanks, Blaise, you're a real friend," Draco.

"You owe me one," Blaise told him, "but now I've got to run, need to finish a potions essay or Snape will have my head. Good luck practicing." Draco watched as Blaise walked down the corridor and disappeared round the corner.

Draco smirked and entered the room. It was perfect for practicing dueling. Practice dummies, cushioned mats and whatnots.

He had asked Blaise to prepare the room and stay in it for a little while because Blaise, miraculously, had no lessons for the whole afternoon, so he was the perfect person to make sure Draco got the room when he wanted it without those annoying Dumbledore's Army members messing up his plans. Draco was sure that none of those cowards would think about sneaking into the room after curfew, so he knew that he would have the whole night to practice dueling. In peace.

Draco got out his wand.

_Sectumsempra. _

And the practice dummy's chest exploded.

**.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing guys! Anyway, I just wanted to thank one reviewer in particular, **_**Nuisha**_**, for reviewing every chapter! Thanks for all the love! **

**Anyway, I know there hasn't been any dramione moments so far, and I'm really sorry for that. Please be patient, I needed the past few chapters to establish the setting. But now that that's done with, let the dramione begin!**

**Next chapter: A confrontation… **


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh gosh, I haven't updated in such a long time. Sorry, I was busy . I'd be surprised if anyone still reads this story. But anyway, if you're reading this, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. And read on, dear reader. A journey awaits.**

_What just happened?_

Hermione had watched in bewilderment as Malfoy entered the Room of Requirement, shortly after a brief meeting with a certain Blaise Zabini. She stood in the middle of the corridor, thankfully under the protection of the invisibility cloak. Instinct told her to go back to the common room, after all, Harry and Ron had probably fled there and were probably worried sick waiting for her to come back. But her curiosity told her otherwise.

Walking towards the now closed door, she watched it vanish right before her eyes.

_I want to know what Malfoy is doing in there. _

She paced the floor, containing her excitement and anxiety as to what she would find in the room. She guessed that he was probably practicing for their upcoming duel. Ha, she thought to herself, looks like even the great purebloods need to practice. Guess Malfoy was just afraid to lose.

The door materialized in front of her. She removed the cloak. Taking a deep breath and arming herself with her wand, she twisted the doorknob.

She had not prepared herself for the sight in front of her, there was debris flying in all directions, apparently coming from an almost bare practice dummy stand in the centre of the room. Malfoy was standing in the centre of the room, staring at her like a deer in the headlights.

For a moment, there was silence. They stood shock-still as their eyes locked. The impact of Malfoy's spell has passed and the floor was covered in fragments of a tarnished practice dummy.

Hermione was at a loss of what to do. She contemplated leaving without a word, obviously it was the wrong decision to make coming here and making her presence known. What was she thinking, letting Malfoy know she was out after curfew? He already had enough against her as it was. Then she realized one tiny little detail, Malfoy was out after curfew too! It looked like if she was going down for this tiny transgression, he would, no doubt, go down with her.

"Malfoy," Hermione started, keeping her wand at ready, "What are you doing here?"

This was enough to break the shock that Malfoy had been momentarily in. His cool, arrogant mask slipped back onto his face as he met her stare with equal intensity.

"I might ask you the same thing, Granger, but I have a feeling we're both here for the same reason. Now if you would be so kind as to put away your wand and leave without breathing a word about this to anyone, I will magnanimously ignore this whole event." Malfoy stated confidently, his mouth curved into an arrogant smirk.

"I don't think so, may I remind you that you are also in a position to listen to me? Surely you realize you too are out past curfew, and I don't think the _high inquisitor _will like you very much after she finds out you have broken one of her _oh_-_so_-_important_ rules," Hermione replied, coolly and calmly. Malfoy was not going to get the better of her this time.

"You little-"

"Fine, report me for being out after curfew, put me in detention, I don't care about winning Umbridge's favour. But you do. And once I report you and you get on her bad side, _your father will hear about this_," Hermione challenged, spitefully mimicking Malfoy's frequent outbursts of 'my father will hear about this', hoping that her words had served to kick him off his high horse.

Filled with outrage, Malfoy fired a hex at Hermione, which she quickly deflected with the flick of a wrist.

"This is a warning, mudblood, don't cross me again," Draco spat through gritted teeth, shoving his way past Hermione and to the door. "If you dare tattle, I will hex you to oblivion."

With that, Malfoy left the room.

A small grin crawled onto Hermione's face.

_Round 1: Hermione 1, Malfoy 0._

~lalalala~

The next morning, Draco trudged into the Grand Hall for breakfast in a foul mood. He barely managed to practice for the duel yesterday, all because of the annoying mudblood. Thinking back on their confrontation, he could not believe he let her get the better of him. What nerve she had, threatening to tell on him even when he knew a secret that could potentially ruin the rest of her and her little friends' lives.

He sat himself down beside his fellow Slytherins and watched a scrumptious breakfast spread magically materialize in front of him. He picked up his fork, but somehow he was in no mood to eat.

"Hey Drake, what's with the long face?" Blaise asked as he sat on the available seat beside Draco. "Thought you would be in a pretty good mood considering the majorly big favor I did for you last night."

Draco wanted to ignore Blaise, he was still fuming from lingering memories of last night's encounter. However, he felt as if Blaise had the right to know, considering they were best friends and what happened did affect Blaise in some way.

"Granger was there," Draco mumbled, not in the mood to elaborate any further.

"Woah, what? The mudblood?" Blaise paused slightly to register Draco's slight nod. "She was at the room? After curfew?" Blaise sounded mildly impressed, something that Draco did not miss, and that only served to worsen his mood.

Draco stood up from the table abruptly and stormed away, leaving Blaise to imagine what happened during the previous night's encounter.

~tralilalilda~

Hermione walked into the breakfast hall. Harry and Ron were beside her and she had just finished explaining to them what had happened the previous night. After Malfoy had left, she practiced firing some hexes at the practice dummies Malfoy had so considerately set up for almost an hour, before returning to the common room under the invisibility cloak.

"You know, Hermione," Harry said, "Malfoy's only going to be more angry at you for what happened. Be careful, or he might not have the tolerance to wait until the duel to exact his revenge.

~dadidadidadia~

**Because I'm rather busy and I know this chapter is long overdue, I'm ending it here. SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY. Anyway, I think the ending of the chapter is pretty self-explanatory. Looks like this isn't the last time Draco and Hermione are going to cross wands before the duel. Hmmmmm… **

**Anyway, thanks for reading, if you've read to the end of this chapter, you have no idea how much that means to me. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. **

**Anyway, please review! Sometimes I feel like I'm just writing this fic for myself to read…**


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